The Leadership Catalyst

Thesis Summary

This is an excerpt from the conclusion of my thesis for my Master's of Science degree in Organizational Dynamics, from the University of Pennsylvania. My thesis title is The Leadership Catalyst: A New Paradigm for Helping Leadership Flourish in Organizations.

There
is a magnet on the door of my refrigerator that has a quote by Thomas Edison,
“If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound
ourselves.” I do not remember when we got the magnet or how long it has been
there. I was only peripherally aware of it until recently—but for some reason,
it caught my eye and struck a chord. My thalamus made a determination that it
was worthy of conscious attention and had me see it again as if it were new and
noteworthy. Reflecting on the message, I recognized that it speaks to why I do
what I do. I provide performance improvement education and training because I
want to help people astound themselves. I want to help people learn to live
more powerful, playful, passionate lives. People deserve to wake up in the
morning, excited about their day and how they can make a difference. People
deserve to be delighted with themselves for being able to do more of what they
are capable of doing.

I
believe that my Leadership Catalyst model can help people astound
themselves—whether they follow the concept for business or personal reasons. By
focusing on the kind of person they want to be in the world and using that
higher purpose as a bellwether for their actions, people can begin changing the
course of their lives. They can start Being differently.

By
Being Mindful, people can identify when their behaviors are not working for
them. Many times, our conditioned behaviors serve a useful purpose, but
sometimes they make the situation worse. Yet we keep doing the same things over
and over and expecting different results. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” has
a reverse corollary: “You can’t fix it if you don’t know what’s broke.” By
Being Mindful when an area of their life is not working, people can identify
how they might be getting in their own way. Then they can do something about
it.

By
looking at how they are Being Connected, people can better establish and
nurture their relationships. Nothing big and amazing has been accomplished by a
solo person—even Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Neil Armstrong, Warren Buffet, and
President Obama had other people involved in their success. To quote Margaret
Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has” (Krieger, 2002, p. 335). By Being Connected,
people can build those teams of committed citizens that accomplish big things.

Deciding
is not doing, and knowing is not doing, however. Doing takes action. It takes Being
Intentional. People who are Being Intentional are purposeful in what they do.
They are continuously diagnosing where they and their teams are with regard to
what they are committed to doing—and then designing activities that not only
get them past the roadblocks but also increase the cohesion, collaboration, and
effectiveness of the group. By Being Intentional, people see conflict not as
something to be avoided but as something constructive—as a step toward
understanding others and finding a different answer that comprises what both
parties deem right. As Mary Parker Follet says, “The end result of conflict
management—indeed, the only way to resolve a conflict—is not ‘victory,’ not
‘compromise.’ It is integration of interests” (1995, p. 4).

By
taking on Being Generative, people find ways to breed enthusiasm, engagement,
and commitment—for themselves as well as the people around them. When people
are hesitant to act, they are often told, Just throw your cap over the wall!
But this adage only works if it is a damn fine cap. People who are Being
Generative speak to others’ noble purposes. They provide the vision of a better
future to strive for and live into. Along with the committed citizens to change
the world, there is a powerful vision or purpose that generates that kind of
commitment.

Many
changes for the better start with stepping out of the current paradigm: You
cannot make scrambled eggs without breaking the eggshell paradigm, and,
likewise, you cannot start Amazon.com without breaking the brick-and-mortar-bookstore
paradigm. By Being Heretical, people pay attention to how things might be
better for them and their organizations while staying loyal to their
organizations. People who practice Being Heretical look at their organization
through different lenses that have them see things in a new way. They do not
let themselves be artificially constrained by organizational norms just because
We have always done it that way. By Being Heretical, people can be proactive in
finding new opportunities for success that would not have been possible had
they gone along with business-as-usual.

The
way I see it, Being a Leadership Catalyst is a paradigm for self-improvement,
but it is also a means of paying it forward. As leaders, we should want to make
things better. We should want to make a difference—not only for the
organizations we join but also for the people we work with. This is Gary Hamel’s
vision for a better workplace, from his book The
Future of Management, which helped inspire my model:

"I
dream of organizations that are capable of spontaneous renewal, where the drama
of change is unaccompanied by the wrenching trauma of a turnaround. I dream of
businesses where an electric current of innovation pulses through every
activity, where the renegades always trump the reactionaries. I dream of
companies that actually deserve the passion and creativity of the folks who
work there, and naturally elicit the very best that people have to give. Of
course, these are more than dreams; they are imperatives. They are do-or-die
challenges for any company that hopes to thrive in the tumultuous times
ahead—and they can be surmounted only with inspired management innovation." (2007, p. xi)

By
Being Leadership Catalysts, we can contribute to the success of others by
teaching them what they are capable of, and we can exponentially increase the
effects of our efforts because we create leaders who create other leaders, and
so on.

The
Leadership Catalyst model now serves as my guide for helping people learn to
astound themselves. It is my call to action for people to start doing something
different so that they can start getting different results and inspire the same
for others. It is my challenge to organizations to do something to “deserve the
passion and creativity of the folks who work there, and naturally elicit the
very best that people have to give.”